After sweeping the Rochester Americans in the opening series of the post-season, the Toronto Marlies are facing the hottest team in the AHL. The Heat won 7 last games of the regular season adding a 3-game sweep over the Milwaukee Admirals in round one of the playoffs.

Both teams won their home games of the regular season series as the Marlies went 2-1-1, outscoring the Heat 13 - 10. Here’s a quick run-down of what you need to know about the upcoming series

Regular Season Series:

26/10/2011 Abbotsford 0 - 5 Toronto

04/02/2012 Abbotsford 2 - 5 Toronto

13/04/2012 Toronto 0 - 3 Abbotsford

15/04/2012 Toronto 4 - 5 Abbotsford OT

Series Schedule:

Game 1 – Tue., May 1 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 7:00

Game 2 – Thurs., May 3 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 7:00

Game 3 – Sat., May 5 – Toronto at Abbotsford, 10:00

Game 4 – Tue., May 8 – Toronto at Abbotsford, 10:00

*Game 5 – Wed., May 9 – Toronto at Abbotsford, 10:00

*Game 6 – Sat., May 12 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 3:00

*Game 7 – Sun., May 13 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 3:00

*if necessary

What do you need to know about the Abbotsford Heat?

- The Heat are currently the hottest team in the AHL. They ended the regular season with 7 straight wins and extended it to a total of 10 after sweeping the Milwaukee Admirals in the first round in a best-of-five series

- Abbotsford has qualified for the playoffs 2 times in 3 years of their existence. They also made it to the second round both times

- Heat’s head-coachTroy Ward set a franchise record of whopping 42 wins this season and is considered as one of the candidates to fill the coaching position with the Calgary Flames this summer

- Despite an injury and call-up to the Flames, Krys Kolanos played 47 regular season games for the Heat this year, scoring 30 goals and adding 31 assists to. He eset the franchise records in both of those categories and was easily heir top-scorer of the season

- Kolanos had 4 goals and 4 assists in the first round of the playoffs

- In the regular season series Hugh Jessiman and Max Reinhart were the most productive Heat players against the Marlies. Jessiman had a goal and 3 assists in 2 games, while Reinhart scored 2 goals in his 1st pro game

- Heat players have a considerable advantage in Calder Cup Playoffs career games 384 to 102

- Abbotsford’s powerplay is 2nd best in the AHL after the first round (27.8%)

- Here’s some highlights of the Heat’s first round sweep over the Admirals:

What do you need to know about the Toronto Marlies?

- Jesse Blacker, who missed last 7 games of the regular season, is cleared to play and will likely join Stuart Percy on a defensive pairing

- Carter Ashton left Game 2 of the series against Rochester and hasn’t been on ice since. He isn’t expected to play because of a concussion. Marcel Mueller (LW) is likely to take Ashton’s place on the 3rd line

- Joe Colborne and Matt Frattin were the ones who played the sharpest against the Heat in the regular season. Colborne managed 2+3=5 points and Frattin had 4 goals in 4 games

- Before the start of the current post-season there was only one Marlie who played 10+ Calder Cup Playoffs games in his career: Mike Zigomanis

- Marlies are holding an attendance record for the post-season in the AHL. In 2 games at Ricoh Coliseum they averaged 7,030 fans

- Toronto’s penalty killing is 4th best in the league after the first round (91.7%)

- Jerry D’Amigo leads both the Marlies and the league in scoring this post-season with 5 goals in 3 games.

Russian hockey reporter who moved to Canada to find himself right in the middle of hockey madness. @AOsadchenko

Reinhart and Nemisz playing together on a line and from what it sounds like playing very well together.

Reinhart sounds like he could be a very good pro, maybe spending one more year in the A, but I think he will be an NHLer at one point. And if Nemisz plays his cards right can right the wave and back to the NHL.

Good for the Heat. Often, a good AHL team bodes well for the future of a franchise. Unfortunately, not the case for the Flames as they have stacked the Heat with top AHL players they have acquired instead of promising young future NHLers (with a few possible exceptions like Reinhart). More smoke and mirrors from Ken King and company.

@Kenta: Dude why is the glass half empty man? Why cant people give Feaster credit for making the Heat a priority & fast track some success so he can get some of our legit junior prospects some valuable playoff experience at a pro level & have some success. If Daryl were here yet, the Heat would suck & be out of the playoffs just like the Flames are. This smoke & mirrors are giving us a look at a young coach who we are considering taking over for the Flames. We are getting to see Reinhart show us that this kid may have more upside than we think & potential future top 6 player.

I just dont get it. Why is it so hard for people to embrace the little bit of success we can pull out of the darkness, and lets see what Feaster does this off season. We can bash his decisions all through the 2012/13 season. That should be fun, right?